the story of brittney brooks
by SherlocksShadow01821
Summary: Sherlock and john meet a very interesting person who will later become a good friend and an important member of the team to stop moriarty. Set after moriartys "did you miss me"
1. Chapter 1

"john wake up!" rang through 221b. sherlock was trying to tell his best friend some importnt news. a groggy john opened his eyes and checked the clock. four am.

"sherlock what could it possibly be at this time?" he snapped

"moriartys back as he showed all of england. and I have discovered something rather important and it requires travel. unfortunately my brother must accompany us this time. and before you ask why its not like I'm too happy about this either. so pack your bags. were going to america" sherlock walked off without further explanation.

'bloody america?' john thought. ''what is so important in bloody america that I have to be up at four in the morning?' he rolled off the couch he must have fallen asleep while sherlock was doing his research. the last thing he remembered was the clock at one. three hours of sleep. 'doesnt surprise me'

an hour later both sherlock and john finished packing and waited for mycroft to pull up.

"sherlock why are we going to america? I mean really?" john tried again.

"new important information has made itself known john. we must act now or we will miss our chance. its going to be a long flight. if I were you id get your rest on the plane." that was all the answer that sherlock was going to give until the plane landed.

"fine. but where in america sherlock? can I at least know that?" john was starting to sound annoyed.

"yorktown virginia john."

after their flight, sherlock, john, and mycroft tried to hail a taxi. they were in newport news which wasnt too far from their hotel which was lucky because all three were feeling a bit jet lagged. in america it was two in the morning. they had to be up by seven or eight. no later than that. john wished sherlock and mycroft would tell him why they were there. because to him none of this made sense.

"your fare is $30.75," the taxi driver said, snapping john out of his thoughts. 'whos got the money? oh mycroft' time to get the bags upstairs. 'dont wanna walk. too tired' john grumbled to himself.

"brother mine do hurry. we must rest before going to the fort," sherlock remarked. this irritated john even more. out of exhaustion and frustration, he snapped.

"alright what exactly are we doing! I think I have the right to know seeing as you've both dragged me to another country!" both holmes brothers just stopped and stared.

"you didn't tell him sherlock? why not?"

"because we were in a hurry. john we have found a relative to moriarty. well, mycroft did. she is nineteen. and on her own. I don't think even she knows she's from london." john stared at sherlock in shock.

"moriarty has a relative here in america? daughter?" john finally managed to spit out.

"no his niece. do keep up. her name is brittney smith but her birth name is brittney brooks" sherlock retorted.

"brooks? like rich brooks? what?" john was so confused.

mycroft decided to join in the conversation. "we know she's related to moriarty. we know she is his niece. we think that rich brooks is moriartys twin brother. now let's get some rest. we are heading to an american army post later. do go to sleep. you two will share a room. two beds and I will get my own. good day"


	2. Chapter 2

**guys for one thing, sorry if there are any spelling mistakes, I'm working off my nook. Also, this is my first fanfic so I hope you like it :) I don't own any of the sherlock characters just to putgb that out there. I hope you enjoy and please leave some feedbsck. Thanks!**

** Also thank you SilverOcean01 for the review and the support :) you rock!**

chapter two

the alarm in john and sherlocks room went off fsr too early for johns liking. he groaned and rolled out of bed to find that sherlock was already up.

"did you even sleep sherlock?" john asked.

"a couple hours but sleep isn't of the importance right now. finding her is. from what I've found out, brittney smith is a nineteen year old who doesn't know she's adopted. she's just getting out of the army due to medical reasons. actually today is her last day. she is to be picked up at 11 am."

"I don't understand sherlock. are we trying to talk to her before she leaves?"

sherlock shook his head' "no john. we are her ride. mycroft talked to brittneys adoptive mother. apparently moriarty pays her to keep an eye on brittney. hef mother said she couldn't get her. so we are ."

john made no further comment. instead he grabbed clothes out of his bag and took a shower. when he was done, he found that sherlock and mycroft were ready to leave. they seemed a bit impatient. it was barely 0830. john walked out to fimd that mycroft rented a car.

"sherlock can you drive? I do hate the way the americans drive. opposite to us. how daft." mycroft sneered.

"brother mine if you cannot stand american driving what makes you think I can? it seems as if you are the daft one. last time I was in america mrs. hudson was still with that husband of hers. I took taxis everywhere." sherlock retorted.

"well I am not driving. no, sherlock, not me."

before sherlock could reply john cut in. he did not want to hear the holmes brothers bicker. "I'll drive damm."

the holmes brothers looked at john and mycroft tossed him the keys. they loaded into the car and sherlock typed the address into his gps. this is one place he didnt have a map in his head for. fort eustis. john hoped that the girls mother warned her that they were coming. if not, this was going to be a very long day.

"john pull up to the visitors entrance. we need to have mycroft explain the situation. get us on that base." sherlock said.

"are we in the right place or not sherlock?" john asked a bit annoyed.

"yes now shut up and let me think!"

the trio sat outside a building that looked like it was on its last stand. the walls were yellow, though they were supposed to be white. from the outside you could tell this building had to have been built about twenty years before. young men and women walked around the building in uniform but for some reason ad a blue belt sashed across their bodies. at the next building over the soldiers wore white belts.

'how odd.' john thought. he looked at the clock on the dashboard. 1045. time to get out of the car. after a few moments, a young female with short brown hair and bright blue eyes exited the building. she was trying to carry her bags but it was kind of difficult because she was walking with a cane. after a few steps out the door she cried out in pain and fell on the concrete. john rushed to aid her.

"miss would you like some help?" john asked. the girl looked up with tears threatening to fall.

"why would you help me? no one else would. and I have three more bags just inside the door." she tried to get up. john grabbed her arm and made sure she was steady. he took the massive bag off her back and picked up the other that had fallen to the ground. all together the bags weighed around seventy pounds. far too much for an injured person to handle.

"come on. the car is this way. we are your ride to your hotel. there we will explain everything, alright?" john said.

"so you're the one my mom told me about. there are more of you? oh, two more. okay. thank you." the girl seemed relieved.

"miss smith, my name is mycroft holmes and this-"

"your brother, younger I presume by the way you seem to try amd stand taller than him. the two of you don't always get along going by how stiff and sarcastic you tend to be." brittney cut him off. sherlock smirked and mycroft just shook his head.

"brother mine we have found someone as brilliant as you are," mycroft jeered.

"yes it would seem so. how very interesting. your injury, judging by the way you lean on your cane would suggest sharp hip pain, not psychosomatic like johns was. the cane snt very effecfive but you can't use crutches because of your shoulder injury. before you ask john, her right arm hangs slightly lower at the shoulder due to the muscles being torn or possible a labral injury am I right? yes due to the look ive just received I am. anything else? I do tend to miss something," sherlock finished and stood waiting.

the girl smirked. "dead on mr. holmes. good job. now, where are we going?"

at this point john left to get the remaining bags from the building. he didn't need to hear the mind boggling conversation between the three geniuses. god he already had to deal with one sherlock. now she was just as smart. I guess this proved the point of her being related to moriarty. how convinent.

john pulled the car into the hotel parking lot. it had been a very quiet ride to the hotel. mycroft explained to brittney about her name really being brooks and how they were flying to london tomorrow morning. he explained moriarty. after everything was said, a thick silence filled the car. it was one of the longest car rides ever.

mycroft paid for another room and told everyone to get some rest. they were to depart to the airport at 0600 so there was a 0500 wake up. brittney was used to early mornings so she went to bed right away. john and sherlock stayed up a little longer.

"she is just like you sherlock. she sees everything. I bet she has a mind pallace too. what do you think." john said.

"she is like me in many ways john. she observes but there is one major difference. she has put too much into her emotions. it will effect everything she does. she will be a target the moment that plane lands in london. the question is can she handle it? mycroft is having her move into 221c. we will fix it up and keep close eyes on her. moriarty won't be able to keep up this time. messzge gavin for me. tell him we are stopping by scottland yard as soon as we can." after that sherlock retreated to his mind palace.

"his name is greg but you can't hear me can you?" john sighed.

lestrade we are returning to london in the morning. we will be at scottland yard with the girl as soon as we can -jw


	3. Chapter 3

**chapter 3 guys. Its kinda a slow start but I promise things will get better. Thank you for reading guys :) feel free to leave a review. **

Chapter 3

"Ok, can someone please help me understand this. Please? My father, Richard Brooks, gave me up at birth because of my uncle? And my uncle, Jim Moriarty, is a 'consulting criminal' who faked his death and you think that he is now trying to kill you?" Brittney asked, confused.

"Yes. We also believe that your father killed himself to keep Moriarty alive. Please understand that it is all hypothetical at the moment. Sherlock and John will be on the case and for now you will be moving into flat 221c. There you will be close enough for observation and protection." Mycroft droned on. Sherlock rolled his eyes and John was on the phone with someone.

"I swear if you keep this up I won't visit you this christmas. I mean it. Now I have to go. I'm serious, I'm at an airport in America. I should be home tomorrow. Bye." John was flustered as he sat next to Sherlock.

"Harry's drinking again, I assume by your conversstion and how upset you are."

"Sherlock if you're going to make rude comments then keep your mouth shut." John was about to go off on a rant.

"Of course not John, I just wanted to ask if you were alright." Sherlock replied looking a bit hurt.

John was shocked. Usually Sherlock wasn't this nice. Did he want something? No, his expression showed true concern. It seemed odd to John, but he smiled anyways.

"ALL PASSANGERS FOR FLIGHT 154 TO LONDON NOW BOARDING."

"Ready Brittney?" John asked, smiling at her. "London is busy, especially when you know us. And its also very dangerous when you know us. So please, when we get there, stay close, yeah? We are trying to keep Moriarty from knowing that you're in London. He may already know we went to America, but I'll be writing a fake story on my blog to throw him off. I know he is your family but he convinced your father to give you up. Don't forget that. Please."

"John, I may be ninteen but I am very clever. I know when to fold and when to keep going. Now let's go, or we won't get on the plane in time. Also, I know how to mimic accents. No one will know I lived in america okay?" She had changed her accent just like that and limped to the line to board.

Mycroft managed to snag first class seats back to England, so the four of them managed to relax somewhat. Sherlock entered his mind palace, Mycroft took advantage of the free wifi, and Brittney interrogated John.

"So, you're a doctor? And you've been deployed?" She asked.

"Yes and yes. While I was deployed, I was shot and sent back home. Now, I'm retired."

"What is London like?" Brittney was getting better at her accent.

"Busy. It's easier to take a taxi wherever you go. Or at least for us it is. Sherlock is very widely known, so hanging out with him will make you widely known as well."

"Will that be dangerous to me?"

"Honestly Brittney, I don't know. Which is what we all will discuss as soon as we get to Baker Street. Maybe we can change your name until its safe?" John hadn't thought this through. Maybe the others had? The Holmes Brothers liked to keep him out of the loop.

"LADIES AND GENTS THIS IS YOUR CAPTAIN SPEAKING. WE WILL BE ARRIVING IN LONDON IN ABOUT AN HOUR."

"Well thank everyone for that. I'm going crazy here. I can't take sitting down this long with my leg." Brittney groaned and tried to stretch, without much success.

"What exactly happened to your leg?"

"Yes, I was wondering about that myself." Sherlock said, causing both John and Brittney to jump.

"Christ Sherlock! I thought you were in your mind palace!" John did everything he could to keep from shouting in surprise.

"I was until the captain made his announcement John. Now please. Do explain your injury, Ms. Brook."

"Well, you already confirmed that it was my hip. But I don't even know what's wrong. I've seen five different doctors. tNone of them couldn't explain my MRI. There are things torn, but each doctor told me something different. I'm still getting paid by the army, about 750 every two weeks. I can't tell how much that is in your money but it could help." Brittney suddenly looked sad.

"Hey look at me, Brittney you're going to be fine. We will get you to Barts and see what the doctors there can do, ok?" John said, wanting to console the girl.

"LADIES AND GENTS WE ARE ABOUT TO LAND PLEASE FASTEN YOUR SEATBELTS AND WELCOM TO LONDON. WE HOPE YOU ENJOYED YOUR FLIGHT."

Brittney looked out the window to her new life.

"Welcome to Baker Street. Mrs. Hudson will show you to your flat. It needs work but if you need any help come get me. Okay? Actually, I'm going to help you anyways." John was trying his best to make sure the young woman felt at home.

"Thank you John. I truly appreciate this. I will only need help with the wallpaper and furniture though. And I am not going to do that for at least another week. Ok?" Brittney looked exhausted so john excused himself and went back up to the flat with sherlock.

"Ah, John. We were just talking about you. As you are the most, how do I put this, ah yes understanding, your job is to take care of the girl. I'm busy and sherlock, well I just know he isn't able to do much good. I'm giving you a credit card to help out with whatever she needs." Mycroft seemed uninterested with Brittney.

"John! Sherlock! There's a man here to see you! Police by the look of him. Not a hundred percent sure though." Brittney's voice rang up the stairs. She appeared with a very confused Lestrade following her.

"Ah, Lestrade. Is there a case?" Sherlock asked. "Don't answer that I know that there is. What is it? Better be interesting. Or I'm not coming."

"A woman and her child went missing right after you left for america. The woman was found dead two hours ago with a note. Said 'A mother dead means a child's dread. What are you going to do? To free the child you must be wild. See you when the games are through.' I convinced the tesm to let you come with. Will you?" Lestrade seemed stressed and desprate.

"The child is still alive?" Everyone turned to look at Brittney. "What? This needs to be solved! I'm good at riddles. And at reading people. I know lestrade is a smoker, trying to quit though. I know that he loves Sherlock like a brother by the way he looks at Sherlock. I also know that Mrs. Hudson has a bad hip by the way she puts all her weight on one leg. Shall I continue? I'm goodat what I do. Very good. And I can help. So please, let me help."

"Jesus are you two related? She's as smart as you Sherlock. Who is she?" Lestrade asked more confused than ever.

"She has a name and its Brittney Smith. I don't like being talked about as if I'm not here sorry. And no I'm not related to Sherlock. Just as brilliant as him apparently. So, can I help or not?"

"Wouldn't it be dangerous? You just got here." John sounded worried.

"We take her with us John. So we can keep an eye on her. Lestrade, Brittney is a very important person so I need your help. She is a relative of Moriarty and needs to be protected at all costs. She is his niece. Now let's go catch us a killer. Shall we?" With that, Sherlock left the flat.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Sherlock, John, and Brittney all rode in the taxi on the way to the crime scene Lestrade mentioned. Honestly, Brittney was scared. How would she react? How would she be of use? It's not like she was as great as Sherlock at reading people. He was amazing. Brittney had never met someone who could analyze anything as well as she could and sometimes it seems like he's better at it.

"Don't psych yourself out just yet. You barely know him." She thought to herself. "Just look at the crime scene, analyze, don't feel anything, you can do this. Kinda like when at basic." Her peptalk to herself was a little to bring up her mood, but not a lot.

When the taxi came to a stop, John paid the driver and the trio was off. Sherlock grabbed the gloves and lifted the tape so that John and Brittney could make it under. Lestrade walked up to them.

"Are you okay to be doing this? You're very young you know. Wouldn't want to scar you." Lestrade only wanted to make sure the girl was okay. Brittney sensed his worry and decided to smile at him. Then with out a word, headed towards the room.

As soon as Brittney saw the body, her heard started racing. The woman was laying face down but with one arm, her right arm, twisted backwards and tied there. Her face was turned to the left, mouth open in a silent scream. In the womans right hand was a piece of crumple paper, just barely visible. In fact Brittney was sure that Lestrades team hadn't seen it yet.

As Brittney observed, she managed to take focus on the little details. The mother was left handed, as shown by the pen marks from writing before. She had dyed her hair from a deep brunette to a lighter blondish brown, possibly to cover her greys. From her slacks and blouse, she was either on her way to work or at work when she was abducted. Smaller blonde hairs, quite possibly her daughter's hair, was stuck to the sleeves of her cardigan.

Finally Brittney brought herself to look from the womans body to the room she was in. Scratched into the wall was a riddle, signed "M". She wondered if it could be her uncle behind this. It's what seemed most likely. On the floor was boot scuffs, the pattern of them one she memorized quite well. Combat boots. What would someone be doing in combat boots?

Sherlock spoke, snapping her out of her thoughts. She realized she had made all the observations in the five or ten seconds she was in the room before everyone else. "John, examine the body find a cause of death. Drugs, wounds, anything. Brittney, make as much observstions as you need and, if you can, try not to touch anything. They get angry when you do that."

"Sherlock, in her right hand is a crumpled piece of paper. I didn't want to touch it but it looks like no one has noticed it yet. And the scuff marks from the shoes over there are from American made army combat boots. The same ones they issued us at basic. Why would someone in London have American made boots?" Brittney blurted out before she could stop herself. She saw Sherlock smirk and Lestrade's jaw drop. Too late, in her excitement, she forgot to mask her American accent.

"This woman had air injected into her bloodstream, causing her to die immediately, Sherlock. But not before she was beaten horribly. Sherlock, she died trying to keep a secret." John said, filling the silence.

"Right, well let me have a look then. Brittney come here. Tell me what you see." Sherlock beckoned her over, as if testing how close Brittney was willing to go to make a deduction. With difficulty, she managed to kneel down across from him without hurting her hip. Upon further investigation, she saw the bruises that John had mentioned. Her lower lip was split, as well as a gash across the bridge of her nose. There were friction burns on her left wrist from her restraints and what looked to be a thin cut on her neck, maybe from a razor blade.

"Can someone hand me some gloves please? I need to see something!" She called out. Under the stomach there was an envelope, just the corner of it peaking out. Lestrade handed her gloves and delicately she tugged the envelope out from under the mothers body. "It's addressed to Sherlock and John..." She said confused. Before she could say anything else, Lestrade snatched it out of her hand and sent it to Scotland Yard to be x-rayed.

Next was the task of figuring out how to get the paper out of her hand. That one was more difficult. Brittney didn't want to touch the body, but had no other choice. Delicately, she worked the crumpled ball out of the woman's hand and smoothed it out. On the paper was the picture of a little blonde hair, blue eyed girl. She was bound and gagged, crying. Someone wrote on the top "Can you figure out how to find me Sherlock?"

Realization hit her like a train. Whoever killed this woman thought that this was a game. A horrible game. Brittney couldn't take much more of what she was seeing. She struggled to get up, hip stiff at this point. After a loud pop she was able to straighten it.

"Um... if you need me, I'll be outside. I need fresh air and to stretch the leg. Sorry..." As fast as she could, Brittney left the room. Left her first crime scene and definitely the first body she's ever seen. Flashes of the scene played in her mind as she tried to make it out. Why was her non-dominant hand tied behind her back? What is in the envelope addressed to Sherlock and John? Was "M" Moriarty? Brittney wanted nothing more than to run. She wished she didn't have the stupid cane.

"Brittney? You alright?" John asked, causing Brittney to jump.

"Jesus! Could you have been any quieter? You scared me!" She exclaimed, before looking down, unsure of what to say.

"I know that this is horrible, I know. Trust me, I'm a military doctor. I've seen a lot worse. I don't want to say you'll get used to it, but it does get easier. C'mon, it's time to go back to the flat. You can rest and we will figure out what to do from there. But if you don't want to help with the case, I will understand. I'm not so sure abut Sherlock though. He may push you a bit, but if you really don't want anything to do with it, put your foot down, okay?" John looked so worried.

"It's not me I'm worried about John. It's that child. That poor little girl who has to grow up wondering what happened to mummy. Why couldn't she save mummy? That little innocent child has had her family ripped apart! It's not fair!"

By this time, Brittney was shaking and she couldn't stop. John hugged her to him to comfort her. She pulled out of the hug and gave a strained smile. "I'm alright now, thank you. Let's go home, Dr. Watson."


End file.
